1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extruder die and cutter assembly for extruding filled food pieces. More particularly, the present invention relates to an extruder die and cutter assembly, which includes an extension formed on an extrusion member and a filling tube for allowing the extrudate to exit the die and cutter assembly from the side.
2. Description of Background Art
Extruders for producing extruded food pieces are known. Such extruders can conventionally include a pressure vessel for containing, under pressure, a mash of the food to be extruded. Furthermore, pressure exerting means for maintaining pressure in the pressure vessel, a manifold in fluid communication with the pressure vessel, and a die and cutter assembly, generally located underneath the pressure vessel, in fluid communication with the manifold can be included. The extruded food is cut to size by a die and cutter assembly.
Food products that can be extruded in such extruders include, e.g., meats, poultry, seafood, cereal grains, vegetables, fruits, and solid dairy products. As specific examples, the mash may be prepared from beef, chicken, shrimp, wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, apples, and cheese.
The food is ground to a particle size consistent with forming a fluid mash, e.g., particle sizes that will pass through a U.S. Screen Series No. 5 screen, more usually a No. 10 screen, and often a No. 20 screen up to about a No. 100 screen.
Water or other dispersing liquids, e.g., 3% to 70%, may be added to the ground food in order to produce a liquid mash. Binders, flavors, preservatives, colors, stabilizers, antioxidants, and the like may be added to the mash, in conventional amounts. Most often, a gelling material is added to the mash, e.g., a settable gum or pectate, for example, guar gum and sodium alginate, in conventional amounts of about 0.1% to 25%. The gum or pectate is set by a gelling agent, e.g., a 0.5% to 10% solution of calcium chloride and sodium alginate.
The present inventor has also invented an extruder for extruding foodstuff containing a filling. In U.S. application Ser. No. 09/576,766 filed on May 24, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,309 B1, an extruder die and cutter assembly includes an extension formed on the extrusion member and a filling tube to allow for the extrudate to exit the die and cutter assembly from the side. U.S. application Ser. No. 09/576,766, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,309 B1, is hereby incorporated by reference. In the above application; however, the filling tube extends through a length of an interior passageway of the extrusion member, making the extrusion member difficult to clean between process runs.